Royal Tea Bay Co. Ltd.

Another Yunnan bud red tea from Ebay. As described, this tea has a sweetness of honey. The texture is nicely thick. Aromatics are a little nutty/spicy, in the department of pistachio and muscat/nutmeg. I think I can now say that I am more of a fan of the more leafy Dianhongs, I like a little more body and something towards bitterness/astringency when I drink a red tea. Good tea though.

Actually this tea review is for this one and Han Xiang Ecological Tea – Rizhao. I’ve got this one in Sept and was not that enthused with it. Since I didn’t have any Rizhao tea around to compare it with, I thought it was possible my taste changed. So I ordered my favourite Rizhao from the Aliexpress seller Han Xiang Ecological Tea (You can check out my initial review of this tea under “Shandong Rizhao Green Tea”).

In comparison of the two teas dry, they both smelled good from the bag. Pretty similar – a nice fresh green scent. Both teas had the same twisted shape but this tea from RTB had bigger leaves. Brewed both up with 8oz , 80C, 1 min.

The both brewed a similar bright yellow colour but the tea from HXET was a lighter brigher yellow. The tea from RTB was a little bit murkier, not so clear. When I took a taste of the HXET it was still as good as it’s been in past years: butter, spinach, nutty, creamy, sweet. So good. Then I took a taste of the RTB tea. It tasted completely flat. No taste at all. I let my palate clear a bit and tried this tea again. After waiting a few minutes and taking a sip , it was a bit better but was a plain green with none of the underlying creamy, spinach taste the other one has. It was non astringent with a very faint nutty flavour to it. When I would take a sip of the tea from HXET it had so much flavour it just overshadowed the RTB tea so much , I couldn’t taste it at all.

I definitely won’t be buying this tea from RTB anymore. In fact I got 3 teas from them in Sept and all 3 are fairly mediocre.

I enjoyed comparing the two and think I will do a comparison of the HXET Rizhao with some Laoshan Greens I have. They are all grown in about the same area and I think they are all very similar.

A sample from Miss B. The leaves of of this one are reminding me of a Butiki green I tried a while back, but I can’t now remember which one. They’re thin and wiry, very twisted (almost curly, really…), and a very dark green. The flavour is also reminding me of something, but I’m finding it hard to pin down exactly what. Roasted chestnuts is as close as I can come, but it’s not quite right…Roasted chestnuts and grass? Mushroom? Mushroom! That’s closer.

It’s a very smooth green, not at all astringent, but with a strong and distinctive flavour. Just the kind of green tea I’ve discovered I like! Thanks again to Miss B for sharing this one with me.

The dry green leaves are very long and spindly and take up lots of space like a white tea. They smell so good from the bag – a rich green bean/chestnut smell.

This tea is very delicate and light. A light sweetness followed by a nutty chestnut flavour and green beans. Everything is very light and subtle about this tea.

I’m spending the weekend going through tea samples I got from the Steepster puer TTB many trips to my house. I am not sure what round this tea was in.

This tastes old, musty, rotting forest floor, super stank pu. It is good and I know people here who love dat musty old rot pu would love this tea! The age has done this tea well.

My first class was canceled today, which means morning teatime! More samples from the generous LiquidProust. This one I was a little dubious about, since I had the ripe version of this Lao Cang toucha in a Portland tea shop last summer, for $24/100g!! Jesus, talk about a markup. Luckily, I only bought one ounce before I realized it wasn’t for me.

Anyway, the first steep of this tea is awesome! Sweet, and delicious rice aroma and flavors coming out the gaiwan and cup. If it stayed like this, it’d be a 100. Sadly, it does fade—later steeps are more musty and less sweet, and betray the less-than-stellar sheng underneath the flavoring. If I were to drink this again, I’d steep it western to distribute that first steep over the entire session.

Still, that first steep kind of makes the whole session worth it! Mm, sticky rice…

This tea was sent to me accidentally instead of the tea I originally ordered. When I reached out to Royal Tea Bay they were apologetic and quickly, actually very quickly, sent out the correct tea. Now I have a kilogram of this tea. At first I wasn’t sure how I felt about it but after some experimentation I am really beginning to appreciate it. For me it is best brewed in my gaiwan. It has a pronounced smokiness to it that reminds me of the gunpowder green I used to drink, reminds me of hot rocks around a campfire. After a couple of quick rinses the smokiness moves to the back and leaves a thick smooth broth. It tastes like incense burning on a rainy day with the windows open, of wet rocks on a forest floor. The aroma is reminicent of a candle burning on a cold night. It has has both a sweetness and a richness to it and just a touch of astringency that leaves a bright taste at the end. I brewed 8g for 10s, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40 ,50. I may just keep going.

I am thinking of attempting to age a portion of this bundled in cloth. I have no idea what effect this might have on it but it might be interesting.

This is an interesting one. this comes to me from MissB and is tightly compacted. I let is sit for a while after a 10 sec steep. almost all the water was absorbed in to the cake. My first couple of steeps of this one, i was getting an almost menthol like taste…bordering on mint…but really faintly. it was a weird experience. the aroma of the tea however, was much more earthy/leathery like. Later steeps the tea was much more cedar and wood with almost an aftertaste of smoke but not strong.

this was an interesting tea and one i might consider purchasing in the future.

new taste:

if steeped a while it has spicyness to it! :D

an amazing tea! (one of the best shou puerhs ive ever tried!)

when i smell the leaves dry, i smell a tad bit of mustyness.

when i smell the leaves wet, i smell earth.

when i smell the brewed tea, i smell earth and sweetness.

when i taste the brewed tea, i taste mild earth and lots of sweetness.

the color of the brewed tea is a chocolaty brown.

i rate this a 100 because the tea is just perfect!

many thanks to liquidproust for this amazing sample.

A new flavour!

If I suck on the leaves like a candy, I taste smokeyness!
Oh and after 4 or 5 steeps I taste smokyness!

It still is tasty and nice. For those who have not seen my full review, please look for it.

Many thanks!

ive grown to enjoy this tea a lot since its the only sheng left i like that i have. (the other sheng i have tried and still have i don’t like as its too weak for me. so i did not review it).

i also took a nice chunk out of the strainer and sucked on it like a candy for a little while. quite bitter. but it got enjoyable after a while.

this tea is lovely!

new score: 80 —→ 100

a decent tea :)

when i smell the leaves dry, they smell musty.

when i smell the leaves wet, they smell green and like honey.

when i smell the brewed tea, i smell somewhat strong honey aromas.

when i taste the brewed tea, i taste somewhat strong honey and mild spices. also i taste a tad bit of fruityness.

when brewed, this tea is a dark orange and somewhat amber color.

i rate this a 80 because the flavors/aromas are a little below perfect, but there is no smokeyness. (im not sure if liquidproust said there was any or not).

many thanks for this tuo liquidproust.

additional notes: Very sad sipdown here. Always a nice tea. A bit pricey when I use two teaspoons to get that maximum cant’-tell-what-kind-of-chewy-bread flavor this is. Sometimes it’s rye bread, sometimes it’s chocolate bread. Maybe it’s all the bread. I will misssss it. It looks like it’s still on Royal Tea Bay’s site but it looks like they only take Paypal or something. Does anyone have a favorite type of this kind of Jin Jun Mei?
2020 Sipdowns: 99

Additional notes: This one is still fantastic. Next time it will be gone. It’s such an interesting flavor profile that I don’t think I have anything else like it around here. I wonder if this is how most Jin Jun Mei is. I only remember trying this one. It’s like a starchy chewy dark chocolate bread with some smoke. This tea is as chewy as a tea can be. My original note says like Keemun and Laoshan black but how I wished either of those would be. Laoshan is always too light for me. I think I perfected the steeps this time. I might resteep a half a mug tomorrow to really get the last out of the leaves.
Steep #1 // 2 teaspoons // 16 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 4 min
edited: A third mug 3/4 full is certainly worth it — still tasty.

Thanks so much for this one, MissB! If this is what Jin Jun Mei is usually like, I’m in love. Right away, the scent of the dry leaves is like a baked bready dessert covered in cocoa powder. I think this tea singlehandedly invented that dessert in my mind. The flavor is similar to the scent in this deep amber brew. Cocoa powder! It’s kind of like a keemun with the flavor profile and hints of smoke mixed with a tea like Laoshan Black (which makes sense if they’re both Fujian). Caramel, chocolate, and something special to this tea, some unique flavor I can’t figure out. I love it though. Both steeps were the same. I have a few more teaspoons to enjoy!
Steep #1 // 2 tsps. // 12 minutes after boiling // 2- 2 1/2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // ?? min

Royal Tea Bay is one of my favourite eBay tea stores, so I was poking around and noticed the persimmon leaf tea. It intrigued me, because I’ve had goji leaf tea before and really like it. I wondered if it was similar. Since I drink so much tea, I’m always looking for caffeine-free teas and if they are beneficial to health, then all the better. The persimmon leaf tea has huge leaves and I had to break them up to get them into my infuser. The dry leaves didn’t have a very strong smell, so I steeped for five minutes to try and get as much taste and aroma as possible. The brewed tea has a mild aroma and light colour. It had a slight peppery taste to it and was vegetal. I found the tea mild, but I’m not sure if it’s because I didn’t use enough of the leaves for steeping. I’ll try using more next time.

Good black tea, slight notes of bitterness.

For once, a black tea that is not offensively chocolatey, salty, smokey, or strong! What a pleasant experience! This makes me look forward to testing out my fresh Jin Jun Mei that Liquid Proust bought directly from the source in China.
The tea, though, is from the lovely MissB. It is malty and thicker feeling without being cloying or bitter. It’s dark and a little sweet without making my stomach upset. It smells quite sweet, but is not so sweet on the sip. Maybe a little woody or minerally, but melding with the maltiness; it reminds me of sweet potato skins, if that’s not too weird!
Thanks for the sample, MissB! I’m having fun playing sample roulette by dipping my hand in my sample box and coming up with something random!

My sip down of the day, this tuocha came from Sil and although the label didn’t say
‘sticky rice’ on it, as soon as I unwrapped it, I could smell it, and even more so after the rinse. My kitchen smelled like sticky rice, making me think of that awesome sticky rice, mango, & coconut milk dessert. I can’t eat most grains, although I confess that I do occasionally eat some rice. It’s a little rough on my digestions, but sometimes I get tired of the cauliflower rice alternative and just want to chew something starchy. Especially when eating curry.

So…the tea…meh. It’s ok, but not something I’d want in my collection. It doesn’t taste bad, but I’m just not really enamored with having my tea taste like rice. Still, a change of pace, and it’s always good to drink something novel from time to time.